TRENDING

Bring on the Beans

By Thomas R. Temin

Oct 13, 1997

In this context, bean counter is a compliment--and it's just what FTS needs as it moves into the era of FTS 2001 and desktop seat management. By all accounts, Fischer, now GSA's chief financial officer, is a deliberate and thorough executive.

The massive FTS 2001 telecommunications contracts, like the waning FTS 2000 program they will replace, will need a steady hand to guide them through evaluation of bids and final awards. Telecommunications vendors are a contentious bunch, likelier than other classes of vendors to challenge government requirements and contract activities. The industry has become cutthroat as even big outfits such as MCI Communications Corp. show the strains of the very deregulation they fought for.

Moreover, awarding local service contracts will take a steely, clear-eyed approach. Congress last year was in such an emotional frenzy over the prospect of local competition that it delayed the FTS 2001 requests for proposals to encourage more competition. But as Woods' outgoing deputy, John Okay, noted with characteristic understatement, "The great momentum [of local competition] that was going to sweep us all away has slowed down."

In reality, the momentum has ground to a halt. The silence is deafening.

Seat management, under which agencies use service contracts to acquire computing needs instead of buying desktop computers, has the potential to change the economics of the federal PC business.

It will take someone with well-grounded analytical ability to sift through competing claims of finance companies, resellers and manufacturers. It's akin to leasing a car--often the fine print and a little knowledge reveal that the shiny BMW at $399 per month is a lousy deal.

The fact is, desktop computing and telecommunications are largely commodities now, even though vendors prefer to compete on features. So the ability to cut through the hype and judge the real value delivered will take, well, a good bean counter. And don't forget, a reformed GSA FTS is obligated to make a profit on the services it delivers.